State Education Superintendent Molly Spearman was right to criticize South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster last week for vetoing the Legislature's plan to spend $20.5 million in lottery proceeds on new school buses.

Spearman and McMaster agree that the state needs to establish a steady and consistent way to pay for new school buses. Brian Symmes, McMaster's spokesman, described the governor's decision not to use $20.5 million in lottery funds as a "process veto."

"The governor believes in spending money the state has. There is 11 1/2 million available. The 20 1/2 million is not available to the state. He doesn't believe in allocating not yet existing funds."

Given the continued longevity and popularity of the lottery, which began 15 years ago, that seems like a cop out. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone, including the governor, who doesn't agree that a good portion of the state's 5,568 buses need to be replaced.

Just last month an aging school bus in Spartanburg County School District 5 caught fire. Students sitting in the back of the bus noticed the back seat was smoking and alerted their bus driver, Teressa Stroble, who got all 56 students off the bus safely.

Duncan Fire Chief Barry Frost said a heater under the back seat of the bus, a 1995 model, was the cause of the fire.

“What is the price they are going to put on kids' safety?" asked Frost. "They are putting them in unsafe vehicles. They want to fuss about the cost of the school buses and where the money comes from. It doesn't matter; figure out how you are going to do it and do it.”

Frost said South Carolina has some of the oldest school buses in the nation. A few years back, he said, "We bought old school buses from another state."

About 47 percent of South Carolina's 750,000 students ride the bus to school, said Ryan Brown, press secretary for the State Department of Education. The 1995-96 Thomas rear-engine bus models have been particularly problematic, he said. There are more than 700 buses that are older than the 1995 models in operation. Replacing just the 1995-96 buses would cost the state $72.3 million.

The state gets about $2 million in recurring funds each year for school buses. This year, they received an additional $2 million for bus replacement. "After the most recent orders [of new buses] -- minus the 118 coming from this year's additional $2 million in recurring funds -- we will have...approximately 900 [of the 1995-96] in operation."

State education officials would like to see the legislature designate specific funds for school bus replacement. "Right now we are in such a crisis situation we will take funds wherever we can get them. We'd love to work with the governor and the general assembly moving forward. We need the lottery funds to purchase buses and get the old ones off the road."

If lawmakers would put a minimum $10 million in recurring fees in the budget, the state could buy the buses it needs to modernize its fleet.

But McMaster is concerned that when lottery funds do become available, the state may have more pressing needs, Symmes said.

"The governor's point is that school buses absolutely are needed. If it’s that important, let’s put it in the budget and bring [the money] from the general fund."

Let's face it, with lottery proceeds and other funding sources, the state has the ability to do the right thing. It's time now to solve the problem of aging school buses. The governor and lawmakers must ensure that South Carolina's children ride in safe buses to and from school.